Reviewed by Sriya Chattopadhay
While several books focus on how to welcome a child into your home — and the mental/emotional toll it takes on the resource parents — not too many tell the story from the viewpoint of your own children. “Beyond Blood” jumps into that space where Ben, the narrator, is only 5 years old when his parents decide to foster. Written by mother-son duo Michelle Snyder with Ben Snyder Jr. (now 14), the tagline of the book explains what to expect: “How being a foster brother shattered my world and rebuilt it.” The authors do not sugarcoat their feelings at any stage, making the book a must-read for families that choose to foster. When Ben’s mother first explains the decision to open their home to other kids, Ben feels, “My parents were choosing to allow suffering into my life — suffering that I wouldn’t have to go through if I weren’t a biological child in a foster family.”
Recollected with wit and honesty, the following chapters outline how Ben and his family (including his parents and younger sister Annabelle) adjust to the various children who come into their lives — some for a very short period and some for longer stints. As his mother notes, “Ben’s childhood was molded through kids with shocking lives arriving at his home at all hours of the night and disappearing just as abruptly.” Through the process of caring for the different children, each with their own set of challenges and triumphs, “Beyond Blood” will resonate with many FFT readers, especially the younger family members whose parents decided to foster.
It is a must-read, and the unique author combination achieves what it delineates, “The goal of this book is to disrupt the idea that a person should not foster or adopt because of the impact it may have on their home or family… There is safety in stepping out, in no longer having the luxury to focus on the superficial, in setting aside personal desires to accomplish something larger.”
“Beyond Blood”
Publisher: Ballast Books
Paperback: 127 pages; ISBN-10: 1962202895; ISBN-13: 978-1962202893
Dimensions: 6 x 0.27 x 9 inches
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